Tragic Death of Bible Translator - please pray for the Nivhaar people of Vanuatu

Vanuatu [2011-09-02] —

Very sad News - Tom Makua, SW Tanna translator died this morning 2nd September, 364 days from the dedication of the New Testament he helped translate.

Mendy Nehrbass (translation advisor) writes: "Tom loved the Lord. With each passing year we knew him, he became clearer in his faith. He's probably read more of the Bible than most Americans we know! From our observation, the better he knew God's Word, the stronger he became in his faith. This is a testimony to having God's Word in Nivhaar, his heart language. He was involved in many back translations of books, in many village checks and in every consultant check we had. His growth in understanding God's Word was evident as he interacted during these checks and in his preaching and praying in church, too. One of the first things our kids said, in their shock of losing our friend, was, 'Tom will never get to hold the Bible in Nivhaar in his own hands!'

"Some of the Christians in our village were sure that God would heal Tom because he was a Christian. If he hadn't been a praying man, God wouldn't heal him, but since he was, surely God would heal him. We know Job 1:21 says, 'The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' Please pray with us for Tom's wife and children and brothers and sisters and mom and dad and the rest of the village (who are all his family too) as we mourn the loss of a wonderful, loving, fun, friendly, God-fearing man... and for everyone's faith, too. Pray God would reveal His character through this and draw people to Him through this tragedy."